Friday, 23 October 2015

Vintage Vogue skirt - rescue for a boring wardrobe

I don't know why it is, but with the beginning of each new season I feel like I have nothing to wear (which judging by my bulging wardrobe is obviously not true). Now that the weather has warmed up around here, I suddenly feel like all my dresses and skirts from last season are just dull and boring. So I decided on a quick fix by making a simple, pleated skirt:

This style of skirt hardly needs a pattern because it so simple, but since I have such a huge pattern stash I thought I should use it! So I pulled out Vogue 7508, which is from 1989 and is long OOP. It has that 1980s big is better attitude so I shortened it significantly to knee length. Midi-length skirts seem to be all the fashion at the moment, I just feel frumpy and swamped by fabric in them and I like to do my own thing anyway.

Even though it's a simple pattern, there are few clever features that made using it worthwhile. The skirt panels are a-line as well as gathered, and the pleats at the waist are slightly angled which gives the skirt a nice flare without being too puffy.

The side seams of the skirt have been moved around the front and are hidden beneath a pleat - so it you didn't pattern match very well no-one would be able to tell.

The pockets are also in the side seam (that is actually at the front), which means the pocket bags sit at the front under the pleats rather than disrupting the line down the side of the body:

The only thing I don't like is that the waistband is a straight band which on my body means it gapes open a bit (hence the belt). Unfortunately I didn't have enough fabric to cut a curved waistband though - despite having a 2m length of this fabric because this skirt sure uses up a lot of length! I think I will add some belt loops though, to help keep the belt in place.

The lack of fabric also means that I couldn't pattern match the centre back seam either, which is really bugging me now that I see these photos:

I might undo that centre back seam and lose a little bit of width to reposition the seam so I can avoid that annoying doubling up of the circle print down the centre back.

And since I seem to be in a nitpicking mood, I have to mention the annoying fabric. I bought this cotton sateen from Spotlight some time ago, probably during a sale so it's not cost I'm annoyed about. I've had this fabric in my stash for ages, just waiting for the right use because I really like the print. This fabric had a beautiful sheen and was a dark navy blue but after just one wash it faded terribly so I don't hold much hope for it having a long life in my wardrobe. But for now I really like it, and my wardrobe crisis is slightly alleviated!